of dr. martin luther king jr. by giving back. >>> as you heard earlier today was billed as the national day of service. something president obama started four years ago. it's a salute to volunteerism and the spirit of giving back. nbc's ron mott covered it and joins us from lafayette park from across the white house. >> reporter: good morning, lester. monday is also inauguration day and also the mlk holiday. today president obama kicked off his inaugural festivities by honoring dr. martin luther king jr. two days before the eyes of the world are focused on him, today president obama sought to fix the country's collective gaze on martin luther king jr.'s legacy on this national day of service, sprucing up a washington elementary school with the first family, while the vice president and his family helped load goodies bound for fighting service members, veterans and first responders. >> i'm always reminded that he said, everybody wants to be first. everybody wants to about drum major, but if you're going to be a drum major, be a drum major for service, be a drum major for justice, be a dr

of dr. martin luther king, jr. but there will be other reminders of this nation's long journey on the road to inclusion. among them, a high school marching band from arkansas and a civil rights pioneer who bookend a vivid story of how far this nation has come. the name is the same, but the little rock central high school of 2013 marches to a different drum. the irony will be inescapable when this racially mixed group of students from little rock's most infamous school perform at the second inauguration of america's first black president. >> we are not just historic because of what happened in 1957. we are great in academics, music, which is why we are going to the inauguration. >> reporter: 1957. before these students and even the president himself were born. little rock central high was not a great place then, but rather the flashpoint in the battle over court-ordered school desegregation, forced by the federal government to accept black students. >> at 8:28 this morning, little rock time, the nine negro students who arrive here at this school daily arrive here again this morn

lincoln's, the other dr. martin luther king junior's. >> protect and defend -- >> the constitution of the united states. >> the constitution of the united states. >> so help you god. >> so help me god. >> and unlike four years ago, chief justice roberts and the president made it through, using the correct wording. ♪ >> barack h. obama! >> and then came the president's second inaugural address. >> this generation of americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. a decade of war is now ending. an economic recovery has begun. we must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care, and the size of our deficit. but we reject the belief that america must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. the commitments we make to each other through medicare and medicaid and social security, these things do not sap our initiative. they strengthen us. they do not make us a nation of takers. they free us to take the risks that make this country great. we will respon

Excerpts 0 to 2 of about 3 results.